When my games group plays Elder Sign, one of the least used components was the Ally deck. Allies only appears as a Reward on 2 out of 56 Adventure cards so there is good chance that the players never even see one. At a cost of 5 trophies (and a turn) it just doesn't seem a worthwhile purchase while at the Entrance. The game is approaching the half way stage before a player can afford an Ally and it seems more worthwhile to save up and purchase an Elder Sign. Another downside is that some Allies are rather situational and very often are excess baggage (I'm looking at you Duke) for a large part of the game, 3 of the 8 are useless when the AO awakens.

Given this, I wanted a mechanism to award Allies, one that didn't cost the players much resources and didn't waste a turn to obtain. Since I wanted to introduce Guardians to the game I designed Blessing of Nodens as a solutions to these two problems. Now, an Ally can be obtained at a cost of just 1 Trophy while the investigator (is typically) receiving First Aid.

In addition I have designed what I consider to be "Gandalf" cards (see RK's Lord of the Rings co-operative game) or "Get out of Jail Free" cards. They can be played at any time, typically when a game ending situation may occur and, importantly, introduce a new co-operative element to the game. Players can now discuss when and if they need to purchase a Nodens' Gift and decide the best way to fund it and to use it.

For players who are finding Elder Sign difficult, then I hope that Nodens helps and adds some new ides to the gameplay.

For those who find Elder Sign easy (as I do) then Nodens can still be used by adding elements such as Heralds or Abominations. My games group now plays Elder Sign using an Abomination or Herald and we do need a helping hand to defeat the Ancient One. Nodens seems to fit the bill.

EDIT: This will be uploaded to the Files sections in a few days time in PDF format and in greater resolution (300dpi instead of 150dpi).

I don't like the idea of making an easy game even easier. How about a herald instead?

Neither do I, which is why I said in my post above.

xris wrote:

For those who find Elder Sign easy (as I do) then Nodens can still be used by adding elements such as Heralds or Abominations. My games group now plays Elder Sign using an Abomination or Herald and we do need a helping hand to defeat the Ancient One. Nodens seems to fit the bill.